Short answers, pulled from the story.
A zapovednik is a strictly protected nature reserve in Russia and other former Soviet republics where public access is restricted and economic activity is prohibited. Unlike national parks, which are designed for public recreation, zapovedniks are created primarily for scientific research, with access limited to scientists and rangers.
The first formal state zapovednik was Barguzin Nature Reserve, established in 1916 by the tsarist government on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Its original purpose was to protect and study the sable, a fur-bearing animal that had been severely depleted by over-hunting.
Russia has 101 zapovedniks covering roughly 330,000 square kilometres, which equals about 1.4 percent of the country's total land area. They range in size from Galich'ya Gora at 2.31 square kilometres to the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve at 41,692 square kilometres.
The theory of zapovednost was developed principally by the soil biologist Vasily Dokuchaev in the 1890s and the early twentieth century. The concept holds that people and all economic activity must be excluded from protected areas so that natural ecosystems can serve as undisturbed scientific benchmarks.
Khrushchev publicly criticized the zapovednik system and singled out a film showing a scientist watching a squirrel eat a nut, viewing such observation as an unproductive use of resources. Following his criticism, six zapovedniks were closed and others were merged or reduced in area.
The Chronicle of Nature is a standardized long-term monitoring program carried out in every zapovednik, tracking seasonal ecological events. The name was proposed by Aleksandr Formozov in 1937, though monitoring efforts had begun as early as 1914. The data now provide a baseline for measuring the effects of climate change on natural ecosystems.